News

February 16, 2011By Madeleine Lee and Jay RuskinUnited for Peace of Pierce County

In the latest development in a lawsuit that began against Texaco eighteen years ago and that Chevron has inherited, on Monday a judge in Ecuador fined the oil supermajor $8bn for "widespread contamination of the Amazon basin," the London *Guardian* reported Monday.[1] -- Chevron called the judgment "illegitimate and unenforceable." -- The Journal of Ireland gave a breakdown of the award and emphasized that the suit was motivated by the devastation Texaco inflicted on indigenous peoples of the area.[2] -- A joint press release from Amazon Watch and Rainforest Action Network called the case "historic and unprecedented" and said this was "the first time Indigenous people have sued a multinational corporation in the country where the crime was committed and won."[3] -- The website Planetsave.com described the legal hardball in which Chevron is engaging in an effort to evade liability.[4] -- For further background, see a 2007 piece by Greg Palast, which already noted: "Chevron has removed all its assets from Ecuador."[5]